Iberian Wildlife Tours/Jeff Clarke Ecology The Sierra de Grazalema 1st- 8th May 2012 Tour Review Juvenile Ocellated Lizard – Benaocaz - May 2012 © Teresa Farino Note: All images used in this report were taken during the May 2012 tour. Jeff Clarke & Teresa Farino Leaders: Teresa Farino & Jeff Clarke Full Tour Participants: Chris Adams Anne Barbour Amanda Calvert Alan Harrison Janet Haworth Richard Haworth Grazalema - May 2012 - May 2012 © Jeff Clarke Copyright © Jeff Clarke & Teresa Farino 2012 The moral right of the authors and photographers has been asserted. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights of copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced to a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any other means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner Introduction The rugged limestone terrain of the Sierra de Grazalema lies in South-western Spain and is home to an outstanding range of flora and fauna, partially because this area receives an annual rainfall of 2,200mm. During the week of our tour we explored a wide variety of habitats within and surrounding the sierra, taking in floristic limestone rock gardens, fabulously bird-rich wetlands, saturated meadows, ancient Spanish Fir forests and an arable landscape decorated with a myriad of annual cornfield flowers. Cornfield Annuals in the dehesa of Andalucía - May 2012 © Jeff Clarke As ever with these tours it helps to make the whole experience go well if everyone joins in locating the various plants and animals, and the participants on this tour were particularly adept at finding some biological gems. This proved invaluable on the botanical front, as the previous winter’s drought had significantly impacted on the normally verdant landscape, which was a shadow of its usual self, and what the drought hadn’t succeeded in killing off the rather hungry herds of goats had certainly done their best to reduce further. The group was also blessed with inveterate ‘rock turners’ and this resulted in some spectacular finds throughout the tour, particularly of reptiles. Review Monday 1st May After gathering up most of the tour party at Málaga Airport we made our way to the Torcal de Antequera to join up with Alan and Amanda. It being a bank holiday, however, this popular spot was extremely busy, so we headed off to a quieter location for our picnic lunch, but not before having close views of a hovering Lesser Kestrel. Our picnic stop proved to be highly successful. We hadn’t been there very long, not even time to unpack cameras, when a stunning Bonelli’s Eagle flew right over our heads. A meandering stream held a variety of birds, and while most proved elusive due to the extensive cover of streamside reeds, there was no mistaking the explosive voice of Cetti’s Warbler. Chris spotted a Kingfisher and also picked out White-clawed Crayfish in the water. Butterflies were largely notable by their absence, but our one and only Lorquin’s Blue of the week did show for most of the group, as did a smart Spanish Brown Argus. After lunch we headed for the superb wetland of Fuente de Piedra. As we breasted the hill overlooking the area we could see a shimmering pink haze off in the distance: the large colony of Greater Flamingo that traditionally breeds at the site. The drought and vastness of the reserve meant that we were not going to get very close to them, as they were confined to the centre of the lagoon. There were, however, plenty of compensations closer at hand. As we made our approach Teresa caught a glimpse of a bird crossing the front of the car which proved to be a Collared Pratincole, and we also noted a few Woodchat Shrikes dotted about on top of the various bushes. A brief roadside stop in the scrub area also produced a Green-striped White and several Clouded Yellow butterflies. As we continued to descend toward the wetland, a bird that acted more like a giant swallow as it patrolled gracefully in search of big flying insects caught the eye. Gull-billed Terns have a huge global range but are declining fast in Europe with just 3000 pairs left, making the 250-400 pairs breeding at this site critically important for its future status on the continent. For most of the party, this was their first close-up encounter with this ‘inland’ tern. GGuullllll---bbiiilllllleedd TTeerrrnn --- MMaayy 22001122 ©© JJJeeffffff CClllaarrrkkee We made our way to the reserve centre and overlooked a shallow lagoon filled with Common Coots and a variety of waders, including Curlew Sandpipers resplendent in their breeding plumage, and some lovely graceful Avocets. The most obvious and garrulous wader present on the reserve, however, was the incongruously long-legged Black-winged Stilt. Pairs of these birds were dotted all around the site, often nesting very close to the edge of the path. Curlew Sandpipers at Fuente de Piedra - May 2012 © Jeff Clarke Overlooking another, deeper, lagoon close to the main car park we located a few of the special birds of the region, notably a few White-headed Ducks and Red-crested Pochard, while a couple of Black Terns picked at the water surface for emerging insects. Botanical highlights of the reserve were mostly in the surrounding dry grasslands, and included Grey-leaved Cistus, White Horehound, Yellow Gromwell and the related Nonea vesicaria, the latter unmistakeable with its blackish tubular flowers and inflated calices. We eventually dragged ourselves away and headed off towards our hotel in the delightful ‘White Town’ of Grazalema, nestled in the spectacular limestone sierra to which it gives its name. This would be our home base for what was to prove a very successful week of wildlife exploring. Tuesday 2nd May After breakfast we headed down to the market square, which sits atop a cliff overlooking a small agricultural area ringed by mountains. The sky was alive with swifts and hirundines, giving us a great chance to get our eye in for separating Pallid and Common Swifts, both of which occur here in substantial numbers. A variety of other birds were spotted in the trees below us, with Goldfinches and Serins predominating. They created a musical tinkling and jingling backdrop of sound as a contrast to the banshee-like screaming of the swifts. Looking over the edge we could see some of the characteristic plants of the region clinging to the vertical cliff face. The yellow flowered crucifer Biscutella frutescens shone gold in the sunlight, contrasting dramatically with the fluorescent pink valerian S S Centranthus macrosiphon. S e e e r r r i i i n n n - - We picked our way through the narrow - M M M a a streets and made our way to the start of the a y y y 2 2 route that descends to the foot of the cliff. 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 Within a few minutes we had locked on to 2 © © © our first Iberian Wall Lizards as they scuttled J J J e e e f f f f f through the vegetation along the path edge. f C C C l l l a a Alan, Chris and Jeff set the theme for the a r r r k k k e e week by turning over every likely looking e stone, though always careful to replace them as they found them; on this occasion their efforts produced many more Iberian Wall Lizards. Meanwhile, a closer look at the cracks and crevices in the limestone turned up quite a number of interesting plants, including Spring Rock-cress (with pinky-mauve flowers), the blue-flowered form of Scarlet Pimpernel, the diminutive Rue-leaved Saxifrage, Round- leaved and Shining Crane's-bills, the regional endemic toadflax Linaria platycalyx, with yellow flowers and leaves arranged in threes, and the dandelion-like Hyoseris radiata. At the bottom of the slope we spent some considerable time enjoying one of Spain’s special butterflies, namely the Spanish Festoon. A couple of fine fresh specimens floating around amongst the boulders and shrubs eventually allowed most people to get good photographs of this close relative of the Swallowtails. We also found four of the bird species that typify rocky areas in southern Spain; so much so that three of them have the habitat in their name, Rock Sparrow, Rock Bunting and Blue Rock Thrush. 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